Martin Luther King Jr. He told me that he was not because she was too dark. He and I were African-American. Then we would have called ourselves Negro. So was she. All of us supported the Civil Rights Movement and idolized Dr.

By , James Brown was not just a vocal megastar and a musical innovator, but a social commentator who had the ear of a generation. In the politically charged atmosphere of the times, the Godfather of Soul was now reaching an audience that few politicians could match, with a credibility and integrity born of his own struggles to break through the inter-racial barriers. It was proof that he was reaching an audience of all creeds and colours, and the message spread like wildfire: a week later the King Records single was at No. He really had found his voice. Martin Luther King. But the naysayers were outnumbered by those for whom the song became the unofficial anthem of Black Power. Saxman Maceo Parker was on duty too, as was fellow tenor St.

All rights reserved. Intro Lyrics Meaning. As he came back to life, James let out a loud shriek reminiscent to the scream that he would later make famous as a soul icon. Brown had a tough childhood, growing up in utter poverty in Georgia, where his aunt, a brothel owner, raised him. Incarcerated by the age of sixteen, Brown overcame great adversity to gain fame and fortune. According to Brown himself, "My story is a Horatio Alger story. It's an American story.

Under pressure to say something forthright about the black experience, James Brown did not duck the issue in No mainstream artist — and barely any underground ones — had stated the case for black pride so explicitly. There was no ambiguity, you knew exactly what Brown was saying. But in March there came, gasp, an entire album built on the single. Surely this would be a black revolution on wax! James Brown was not the most subtle of performers, so in some ways it should have been no surprise that he delivered his message in such a manner: it was the way he do. And this entire album is the way he do.